


Five Years Later

by afteriwake



Series: Second Chances [2]
Category: Doctor Who, Sherlock (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-13
Updated: 2013-02-13
Packaged: 2017-11-29 05:02:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/683093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sherlock and Irene reconnect after so many years apart, and both of them are surprised by the other and the directions their lives took.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five Years Later

He had to admit, Irene took the story better than he would have expected. Of course, she had seen the TARDIS appear out of thin air and disappear the same way, so she was slightly more inclined to believe his outlandish story. He had spent nearly three hours in a secluded booth at the coffee shop telling her everything, and his cup of coffee had gone cold while he’d talked. “And that’s the end of it,” he said as he finished telling her about his encounter with the Dream Lord. He hadn’t told her all of the story; there was no point in admitting the exact type of dream he had involving her, and he wasn’t sure she needed to know about it anyway. Perhaps later he would tell her, or perhaps not.

“You’ve changed so much, Sherlock,” she said, picking up her second drink of the evening and taking a sip. “With everything that’s gone on, you seem so different. In a good way, though. More human and less like a robot.”

He smiled slightly. “I thought you liked me as I was.”

“I did. I like this new you better, though.” She reached into her handbag and pulled out a phone. It was very similar to the one he had confiscated from her all those years ago. “Your name is still my password. After everything, I thought it was a good way to remember you.” She handed it to him, and he keyed in the password. He looked at the picture she used as a background and was surprised. “I took that in the hotel room, while you were sleeping.”

“I thought you just wanted to use me to get the information decoded,” he said, handing her back the phone.

“Only partly. I was rather fascinated with you. And then you saved me. Rescued me. I pride myself on being an independent woman. It was the first time in a long time that I had needed to be rescued.” She smiled slightly as she turned off her phone and put it back in her handbag. “So what are you going to do now, Sherlock?”

“I’m not sure.” He took a sip of his coffee and grimaced. Even high quality coffee did not taste good cold. “I think a lot of it depends on you.”

“Well, this is Los Angeles. You can disappear into a crowd very easily here. I thought for sure you’d want to go back to London, though. London is home.”

He picked up a napkin. “I don’t want to go back alone,” he said quietly.

“I don’t know if it’s safe for me to return,” she said.

“It’s safer. When I took down Moriarty’s network I also worked on taking down the people who were a threat to you.” He watched her eyes widen and her mouth form a small O. “Most of them were connected to him, in some way.”

“So I can go back to London?” she asked.

“Provided you don’t go back to your old tricks,” he said with a nod. “I did not work so hard at trying to keep you safe so you could start hoarding secrets again.”

“Once again, I’m in your debt,” she said with a slight inclination of her head. “Thank you. Again.”

“You’re welcome,” he said.

“It will take some time to leave,” she said after a moment. “I’ve built a life here. All under an assumed name, of course, but it’s still a life I need to extricate myself from. Maybe in a few weeks I’ll be able to go.” She tilted her head slightly as she looked at him. “Do you have a place to stay here?”

He shook his head. “You’re the only person I know here.”

“Then perhaps you can stay with me,” she said slowly. “If it gets too uncomfortable we can make other arrangements, of course.”

“Of course,” he said. “Perhaps you can tell me what you’ve been doing since the last time I saw you.”

“I’ve actually made my way as a matchmaker.” He knew his eyes had widened because she chuckled slightly. “Don’t look so shocked, Sherlock. As I’ve said before, I know what men like. Women too. Going from the sexual side of things to the romantic wasn’t that hard. I have an exclusive clientele of wealthy clients. I only have a few left who are still single, but I can refer them to my competitors. It will take a little time, however.”

“That is an interesting career choice,” he said after a moment.

“Perhaps I can put those skills to use in London,” she said thoughtfully. “It’s been good not to have to rely on my body to make my way in the world.”

“There are always lonely people in the world,” he said thoughtfully.

“Are you lonely?” she asked.

“Sometimes,” he answered truthfully.

“Sometimes I’m lonely too,” she said softly. “It will be nice to be able to be Irene Adler again. Maybe then I won’t feel so lonely.”

“Perhaps.”

She hesitated for a moment, then reached over for his hand. “And perhaps I can entice you to dinner before we go to my home here?” she asked quietly.

“I believe I would like to join you for dinner tonight,” he said with a slight nod, looking at their hands.

“And all I had to do was wait five years for a yes,” she said with a smile that he caught when she looked up. He smiled back slightly. “I’ll make sure this dinner is worth it.” She let go of his hand and stood up, and he followed suit as they walked out of the coffee shop. Yes, perhaps he was going to be lucky enough to get a second chance, and he was going to do everything in his power to make sure that he didn’t waste it.


End file.
